Sunday, November 01, 2009

Recession, what recession? Apparently someone's getting loans. We have news of three separate openings.

Rivergate BrewingThis first piece comes straight from the horse's mouth, via comments, from Brian, a co-owner. Since it refers to comments in a thread from which I've removed it, some of the comments appear to be non sequiturs (go here to read the full conversation):

"Ok, so here’s the details on Rivergate Brewing: North End Pub. I am one of the owners of the new North End Pub on Lombard. Yes, we are going to be as family friendly as OLCC will let us be. We hope to be open by about November the 10th; we may have to open without beer or alcohol--we will have to see when the OLCC gets the permit issued, Just waiting on them.

We are currently trying to get the dining room repainted. Yes it has been a HERCULEAN task getting things cleaned up; the building has been vacant for about 2 years. We hauled 14 yards of debris out of the parking lot alone. I will be planning on brewing some of our own beers in the future, just not happening at the start. I am NOT a hop head, don’t expect big IPA’s from me. I am an ale and Kolsch fan and have been known to dabble in some darker beers just for fun. We are looking forward to seeing as many people as we can when were open. Sorry no more information has leaked out--lots of people have been stopping by and talking to us, so many in fact we have started locking ourselves in so we can get some work done. [editor's note: sorry!]I have hired several excellent cooks to run the kitchen and are working on a great menu, trying to keep it local fresh and flavorful. Hope this helps. Thanks for all the kind words, and we hope to live up to the expectations.

Spints AlehouseYesterday, cruising north on 28th Avenue, I happened to see what I thought would become breaking news: a new alehouse. It's walking distance from my house, and I was thinking--what good fortune I have that 1) these places are opening so near to me, and 2) I get to break the news. Umm, no. Apparently everyone in the city knows about Spints but me. (Sample from a cursory Google search: Portland Food and Drink (1), Portland Food and Drink (2), Willamette Week, and It's Pub Night. Oh, and they have a website and Facebook page, too.) Looks like it is going to follow Seattle's lead and become (at last!) a high-end restaurant with cuisine designed to be paired with foodbeer. A real McCoy gastropub.

ProstIt would be hard to miss the coming of Prost, which is the newest link in the Seattle-based chain, not to mention the newest member of North Mississippi's food scene. The owners completely remodeled an indistinct, tumble-down building on the corner at Skidmore, producing a Victorian gem. The focus is German beer, and all the taps are German imports. From the chatter I've seen on the Brew Crew's listserve, the taps are rather generic. Prost's real virtue lies in the formerly vacant lot just adjacent to the pub. It is now filled with food carts, and Prost is acting as the indoor dining room. Grab a plate of Pad Thai, head inside with it and get a pint of Bitburger. You could definitely find a worse pairing.

Migration BrewingBill gets the credit here, breaking the news yesterday, that yet another brewery is opening up in my neighborhood. (No doubt we can credit their siting to the gravity of my intense beer geekyness, which is drawing the breweries like planets to a black hole.) Anyway, here's Bill:

My eagle-eyed neighbor Lindsey spotted signage for a new brewpub near NE 28th and Glisan: Migration Brewing. Pretty soon you'll be able to do an alphabetical pub crawl up 28th. Coalition at Ankeny, Holman's at Burnside, Beulahland at Couch, we need stuff at Davis and Everett, then there's Spints at Flanders and Migration at Glisan.